Mail receiving and delivering apparatus.



No. 660,773. Patented Oct. 30, I900.

A. HENRY. MAIL RECEIVING AND DELIVERING APPARATUS.

(Application filed Aug. 8, 1900.)

(No Model.)

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFF CE.-

ANDREW L. HENRY, OF LADOGA, INDIANA.

lVlAlL RECEIVING AND DELIVERING APPARATUS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 660,773, dated October 30, 1900. Application filed August 6, 1900- Serial No. 26,080. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern/.-

Be it known that I,.ANDREW L. HENRY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Ladoga, in the county of Montgomery and State of Indiana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Mail Receiving and Delivering Apparatus, of which the following is a specification.

In the distribution and collection of mail by vehicles in the country in what is known as the rural-delivery system much of the time of the postmen is consumed in dismounting from and remounting to the vehicles used by them in performing their work of delivering to and collecting from the mail-boxes along their routes. In inclement weather also the exposure thus incurred is destructive of comfort and dangerous to health.

The object of myinvention is to provide a means whereby the collection and delivery may be so manipulated as to render dismounting on the part of the postman unnecessary; and its essential characteristic consists in an arrangement of the mail-box by which it shall be maintained in proper position when at rest, but which admits of its movement to such a degree as enables its convenient handling from the vehicle by the postman without dismounting, while maintaining the box at substantially the proper level in all positions. This object is accomplished in the present case by a swinging support upon which the mailbox is secured, as will be hereinafter more particularly described and claimed.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, which are made a part hereof and on which similar reference characters indicate similar parts, Figure 1 is an elevation of my improved apparatus as it appears in use as when mail is being taken therefrom or delivered thereto by a postman in a vehicle; Fig. 2, a top or plan view of the box and supporting devices in folded-in position as when at rest; Fig. 3, an end elevation of the same; Fig. 4, a top or plan view showing the apparatus in the same position as in Fig. l and indicating by means of dotted lines various of the other positions to which the mail-box may be swung; and Fig. 5, a detail sectional view, on an enlarged scale, of the box-snpporting devices as seen from the dotted lines 5 5 in Fig. 4.

In detail upon a post or other support 1 is secured a frame 2, in which is pivotall; mounted a swinging device 3, constituting the immediate box-support, upon which in turn the mail-box 4: is pivotally mounted in such a manner as to swing to the Various positions required. The frame structure 2 is secured to the post-.1 by screws 8 or otherwise and preferably has an arm a, which extends out beneath the box when the same is in its folded-in position and at rest, and said arm has a catch 0, by which said box is retained in place. The screws .9, being behind the inner or lower vertical portion of the swinging device 3, cannot be removed so long as said device is in place.

The form of device,3 upon which the box is mounted, shown in the present case, is pivotally secured to the frame 2 by a hinge-pintle p, which when assembled is securely riveted in place, The device 3 as a whole swings horizontally about the point of which said pintle is the axis, the part through which said pintle extends being disposed vertically. Said device preferably extends out thence horizontally a suitable distance, and thence again vertically, as shown. Upon this last-mentioned vertical portion the box 4: is pivotally secured, said box being provided with bearings or eyes for the purpose, as shown. At the upper end this device is provided with an adjustable nut or collar n, upon which the bearing b of the box immediately rests. The lower bearing or eye 6 on said box merely retains it in position and does not carry any weight. The adjustable nut or collar 12 enables the box to be adjusted vertically to exactly the desired relation with the other parts, so thatit shall properly rest upon the arm a when swung back to primary position and be suitably retained by the catch 0 on the end of said arm a. This is of some importance, as while the .box should be held with sufficient force to prevent ordinary accidental displacement and from being blown about by the wind it must still yield under the application of the force exerted by the postman through the rod or handle 5 in order to possess the desired degree of efficiency. On the upper end of the swinging device is a head h, which after it is put in position is secured by a rivet r or so as not to be readily removable.

otherwise, so that it is impossible to remove it without substantial destruction of the integrity of the apparatus.

The box 4 is of any usual or desired form and construction and that which I have chosen to illustrate is exteriorly in most particulars of the conventional form. My invention, however, is capable of being used with any form of mail-box. order to be most convenient and efficient should be arranged to swing in substantially a horizontal plane, so that the operative end v of the box may be brought into convenient relation to the postman at whatever position relative to the support he may happen to stop. The postman in using a box of this kind may have a rod or handle 5, having a hooklike end adapted to engage with a handle, as x, on the box, by means of which he may draw said box toward him. When he has completed the use of the same, (by depositing mail therein or taking mail therefrom,) he may push said box back to position by means of the same handle. As will be understood, the structures should be positioned in convenient localities along the roadside at the points where the mail is to be delivered and collected, so that the postman can drive close to them and receive and deliver The mail conveniently and quickly.

By the use of this invention ti meis saved, so that one postman can do more Work, thus making it possible to lengthen the routes and by reducing the total number of postmen lessen the expense of covering any given amount of territory.

The present form of apparatus is simple,

'efficient, durable, and inexpensive and is capable of being manipulated into a large variety of positions, as indicated by the drawings. Said form may, however, be changed in many ways without departing from my invention so long as the capability of the box to swing on its mounting, thus bringing it into more convenient position for the receiving and delivering of mail, is maintained.

Having thus fully described my said in vention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is t 1. A mail receiving and delivering apparatus consisting of a suitable support, a boxsupporting device pivoted to said support, and a mail-box securely connected to said device, whereby said box may be manipulated The box, however, in

into any desired position within the limit of its movement.

2. The combination of a support, a device secured to said support by a vertically-disposed hinge, and a mail-box securely connected to said hinge, whereby said box is caused to swing in a horizontal plane.

3. The combination of a support, a swinging device thereon, a mail-box secured to said swinging device, and a catch whereby said mail-box can besecured in its primary position.

A. A mail receiving and delivering apparatus, consisting of a support, a swinging device pivoted to said support, a mail-box secured to said swinging device and provided with a handle, and a hook or handle for manipulating said box to'the desired position, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

5. The combination of a support, a framepiece containing pivot-bearings rigidly secured to said support, a swinging device one member of which is mounted in said pivotbearings a second member of which extends out horizontally therefrom and a third member which extends vertically from the end of the second member, and a mail-box pivoted on said third member and adapted to be swung thereon from one position to another, substantially as shown and described.

6. The combination of a support, a catcharm extending out from said support, a swinging device securely pivoted to said support, and a mail-box pivoted to said swinging device being provided with the bearings 19 and e for that purpose, said swinging device'being provided with an adjustable nut or collar 'n, whereby the vertical position of the boxin relation to the other parts may be accurately adjusted and its proper engagement with the catch assured when returned to primary position, substantially as set forth.

7. The combination of a support, a mailbox, and a hinge device whereby said mailbox is securely connected to and carried from said support.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal, at Indianapolis, Indiana, this 3d day of August, A. D. 1900.

ANDREW L. HENRY. [L. s.]

Witnesses:

CHESTER BRADFORD, JAMES A. WALSH. 

